A mother whose daughters were killed by her husband in a murder-suicide believes they would be alive today if she had been involved in his mental health treatment.

John Butler, who had been receiving treatment for depression, took his own life after he killed daughters Ella (2) and Zoe (6) in the family home.

Speaking at a symposium on media coverage of mental health stories at the University of Limerick, Una Butler called for accurate and sensitive reporting of murder-suicide cases.

"I can understand that people just cannot comprehend or don't want to read about it and that is why it is so important that when murder-suicide cases are being reported on that it should be reported accurately and in a sensitive manner - no sensationalising, no glamorising of the events," Ms Butler said.

"People and society have a right to know how often these cases are happening."

Ms Butler has advocated for reform of the Mental Health Act since the tragic deaths of her family in Ballycotton, Co Cork, on November 16, 2010.